Save the date! The CADTM’s Summer Days will take place on 7, 8 and 9 September 2018

La Marlagne, Namur, Belgium

28 May 2018 by CADTM


The Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt
will held its 2018 Summer Days
at La Marlagne, Namur,
on September 7, 8 & 9.



The CADTM’s Summer Days will start on the evening of Friday 7 September in La Marlagne and will carry on in festive and militant mood on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September 2018. You can register now by clicking here.

Don’t miss the 2018 Summer Days which will be a chance to learn about and discuss developments in the international situation regarding debt and talk to activists from several parts of the world.

Ten years on from the 2008 financial collapse, nothing has been done to bring some order to the international financial system and avoid other banking crises. The debt system has pervaded European economies after States poured hundreds of billions of euros into bank bail-outs. Public debt is used as a pretext to intensify the neoliberal agenda by imposing the privatization of public services after systematically dismantling them. In every sphere of daily life, private debt is suffocating populations: the microcredit scam, abusive terms on mortgage Mortgage A loan made against property collateral. There are two sorts of mortgages:
1) the most common form where the property that the loan is used to purchase is used as the collateral;
2) a broader use of property to guarantee any loan: it is sufficient that the borrower possesses and engages the property as collateral.
loans, student debt linked to the ending of free higher education, and so on. Inequality is growing all around the world.

Resistance is under way, both at European and international levels, through multiple initiatives to oppose austerity and illegitimate debt. It is time to construct concrete solutions and alternatives to capitalism by pushing forward resistance to the neoliberal offensive.

Understanding is a necessary step towards civil disobedience

For over 20 years, the CADTM has been providing in-depth analysis of the debt system which serves capitalist domination in the North and the South. The Summer Days will be an opportunity to think about a variety of topics, such as the struggle to construct a Europe for the people, how banks function and the need to socialize them, environmental debt, citizens’ debt-auditing, new creditors like China, international financial institutions and the activities of the international CADTM network outside Europe.

The programme includes two plenary sessions, workshops combining case-studies with proposals for alternatives, a film projection and other musical and festive events!

ACCOMMODATION FOR SATURDAY NIGHT IS FULL



However, you can continue to sign up for he two days or a single day without accommodation or with accomodation on Friday night (you can also sign up on to an accommodation waiting list, as there are usually cancellations).

You can read the provisional Programme by clicking here



PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

Opening Plenary Session (Saturday, September 8th, 10am – 12am)
Ten years of crisis, ten years of struggle!
Speakers: Nicole Briend, Aline Fares, Amélie Kiyindou, Éric Toussaint

Ten years on since the 2008 banking crisis which resulted in government bail outs of major private banks, we are faced with austerity and the systematic dismantling of public services which are then routinely slated for privatization. In response, citizens are organizing forms of resistance to the crisis and to austerity by proposing alternatives to the neoliberal offensive and to capitalism.


Course 1: “What is the debt system?”


- « The debt system in Europe » - (Saturday, September 8th, 2pm – 4pm)
Speakers: Adrien Péroches, Anouk Renaud (CADTM Belgium)

Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus, etc. You have not evaded its grasp, the debt crisis in the North has been in full swing for years. The « Debt of the North: Whodunnit’ » offers a pedagogical and dynamic perspective on the actors responsible for this increase in sovereign debt Sovereign debt Government debts or debts guaranteed by the government. .

- « The debt system in all its forms » Presentation of The Debt-System. A History of Sovereign Debts and Their Repudiation by Eric Toussaint (France: Les Liens qui Libèrent, 2017; USA: to be published by Haymarket Books, 2018). (Saturday, September 8th, 4.20pm – 6.20pm)
Speaker: Éric Toussaint / Chair: Émilie Paumard (CADTM France)

Éric Toussaint will present his latest work, The Debt-System. A History of Sovereign Debts and Their Repudiation, which is essential for understanding the inexorable mechanism of debt and the evolution of the capitalist world since the 19th century. While debt has been used as a weapon of destruction and domination in Latin America, China, Greece, Tunisia, and Egypt for example, there have also been numerous instances of its repudiation.

- « The debt system without borders: Debt, capitalism and migrations » - (Sunday, September 9th, 9am – 12am)
Speakers: France Arets (CRACPE), Jérôme Duval (CADTM Belgium), Mamadou Bah (CADTM), and Emmanuelle Vinois (legal expert, asbl Point d’appui)

The explosion of « forced migration» at the global level has multiple origins (climate change, poverty, war, inequalities, humanitarian and health conditions, etc). Forced migration also has a common denominator – globalization in its capitalist iteration and the domination through debt that underlies it. Faced with innumerable threats along their endless perilous journey, migrants are subject to systematic violations of their human rights.


Course 2: “The debt-system today”


- Let’s make the struggle against vulture funds Vulture funds
Vulture fund
Investment funds who buy, on the secondary markets and at a significant discount, bonds once emitted by countries that are having repayment difficulties, from investors who prefer to cut their losses and take what price they can get in order to unload the risk from their books. The Vulture Funds then pursue the issuing country for the full amount of the debt they have purchased, not hesitating to seek decisions before, usually, British or US courts where the law is favourable to creditors.
international! (Saturday, September 8th, 2pm – 4pm)

Speakers: Milena Costas (UNHCR), Mercedes Revuelta (Platform against vulture funds, Madrid), Olivier Stein (Progress Lawyers Network)

On May 31st of this year, the Belgian Constitutional Court rejected an appeal by the vulture fund NML Capital to strike the July 12, 2015 law, adopted by the Belgian Federal Parliament and drafted with the expertise of the CADTM, from the constitution. In the wake of this historic victory, CADTM calls for an escalation in the fight against illegitimate creditors at the international level. Whether in Argentina, Greece, or Spain, the insidious operations of vulture funds have catastrophic consequences for the population. Known to speculate on public debt, these scavengers of finance also attack strategic sectors such as real estate or health.

- China, a new lending power and its Belt and Road initiative - (Saturday, September 8th, 4.20pm – 6.20pm)
Speakers: Ya-Han Chuang (University of Toulouse - Jean Jaurès), Sushovan Dhar (CADTM India)

Since the introduction of market liberalization reforms in China in 1979 under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, the country has seen impressive capitalist development, becoming a preferred destination for investment. With the turn of the century, China has been looking outward, becoming one of the major capital-exporting powers and one of the leading bilateral creditors. Presented as more favorable than those of « traditional » creditors, China’s policies now embodied by the Belt and Road initiative are already being denounced by social movements in China’s partner countries. This is due to their disastrous implications in terms of sovereignty, violation of social rights and devastation of the environment.

- Revolutions, counter-revolutions and struggles against debt and austerity in North Africa - (Sunday, September 9th, 9am – 12am)
Speakers: Omar Aziki (ATTAC - CADTM Morocco), Fathi Chamkhi (Front Populaire MP, Tunisia)

The revolutionary upsurge that began in December of 2010 in Tunisia and disseminated swiftly throughout North Africa and the Middle East should have been a sign of better things to come for the people of the region and beyond. Despite an extensive counter-revolution, the popular resistance continues, calling for freedom, social justice and human dignity, the same demands that were at the heart of the 2010-2011 uprisings. This workshop will assess the current situation and propose an outlook for the future, giving the floor to anti-debt activists of Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt.


Course 3: “Converging struggles and Alternatives”


- The debt crisis in Europe and initiatives for an alternative - (Sunday, September 9th, 9am – 12am)
Speakers: Daniel Albarracin, Christine Poupin, Cristina Quintavalla, Éric Toussaint

The 2015 Greek episode testified to the level of coercion that creditors, the European institutions and the states of the Euro Zone’s Core are ready to enforce to thwart a leftist government in Europe. What measures should a popular government take to break with austerity, resist the diktats of the European authorities and make radical changes in favor of the interests of the populace? What internationalism today in Europe?

- « To conduct a debt audit is to resist by practice! » - (Saturday, September 8th, 4.20pm – 6.20pm)
Speakers from citizen audit groups in Spain, Belgium, Italy, Gabon and France)

You would like to investigate the debt of your city or of a specific public sector but you’re unsure of where to begin? Would like to raise awareness regarding these issues? Come to this workshop to share Share A unit of ownership interest in a corporation or financial asset, representing one part of the total capital stock. Its owner (a shareholder) is entitled to receive an equal distribution of any profits distributed (a dividend) and to attend shareholder meetings. your practices, bring your questions regarding public debt audits, and most importantly your ambition to topple illegitimate debt!

- Socialization of banks – regaining democratic control of finance (Saturday, September 8th, 2pm – 4pm)
Speakers: Aline Fares, Sushovan Dhar (CADTM India), Éric Toussaint

10 years following the crisis, the few measures taken to stabilize the banks were evidently insufficient. While the banking system poses an increasing risk for the population, taking radical measures to reduce and democratize them has become crucial. What does the socialization of banks entail and how do we get there? How does socialization differ from nationalization?


Closing Plenary Session
(Sunday, September 9th, 2.15pm – 4.45pm)

General feminist strike!
Speakers: Maimouna Bah (Committee of undocumented women, Brussels), Noémie Cravatte (CADTM Belgium), Georgina Monge (Justa Revolta), Maria Elena Saludas (ATTAC - CADTM Argentina)

March 8th of this year proved to be a true demonstration of the force of feminist movements in different countries. Hundreds of thousands of women gathered, marched, and went on strike to denounce the economic exploitation of women and gender-based violence that persists globally. We invite you to listen to the dynamic testimonials of Spanish, Italian, Argentinian, and Belgian activists involved in these struggles that truly inspire!


Book presentations

- Saturday 8 September: De quoi l’effondrement est-il le nom ? by Renaud Duterme
- Saturday 8 September: The Debt System. A History of Sovereign Debt and their Repudiation by Éric Toussaint
- Sunday 9 September: Il faut tuer TINA by Olivier Bonfond

And in the evening we party
With a show,
a film projection,
a concert: DJ KITOKO and MISS SIROCCO have already confirmed their attendance!

RATES

Price for the two full days including meals : 45€
Reduced rate (students and low income persons) : 20€
Fee of Support : 60€
Price for one full day including meals : 25€ (10€ reduced rate)

Price for the two full days without accomodation and breakfast: 35 € (15 € reduced rate)
Price for the two full days with only lunch: 30 € (15 € reduced rate)

Payment : transfer to CADTM n° IBAN BE06 0012 3183 4322 - Code Swift BIC GEBA BE BB, mention « Rencontres d’été 2014 ».


Nota Bene: No inscription will be taken into account until its actual payment



Subscribe by clicking here

Contact:
CADTM, 35 rue Fabry, 4000 Liège, Belgique, 0032 (0)4 226 62 85
Email : inscriptions at cadtm.org / Tel : 00 32 (0)479 71 02 00
More practical information will be provided on time to participants.

We are expecting you to come in numbers! Register quickly by clicking here so that we can give you the best possible reception!


As every year with the CADTM



...discover and analyse the implications of indebtedness in Europe and the world;

...listen and debate with activists from social movements in Greece, France, Belgium, Spain, and also countries of the South (Morocco, India, Argentina, countries in West Africa, etc.);

...meet many people working on these issues as well as activists from your own regions;

...be inspired by many experiences of struggle and talk about possible alternatives to the austerity crisis.


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CADTM

COMMITTEE FOR THE ABOLITION OF ILLEGITIMATE DEBT

8 rue Jonfosse
4000 - Liège- Belgique

00324 60 97 96 80
info@cadtm.org

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